Electra Buckmoth Emerging, Scenting, Mating, Ovipositing

[Sara3346]

Aww that's sad well to be honest they have no Colony or what ever there pretty venerable but still I wonder why let's say the butterflies live and these don't ext.. I find it strange.

[satsuki26]

after they mate, how long will it take the female to lay her eggs?

[jcmegabyte]

The two moths stay together for about an hour or so, and then it only takes her 2-3 hours to do whatever processing she needs to before laying the eggs. What's really amazing is that the eggs are already fairly hard when she lays them, but somehow she manages to get them fertilized and sealed-up in that short time. It's a pretty-much un-studied/un-documented process so far as I know... I guess there's still more left to discover! :-)

[MoonWarriorAutumn]

That was amazing. Thanks for sharing this. I love moths, especially the cute fuzzy ones.

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks for the nice comment! It's interesting to hear a positive point of view for a change... many viewers are scared to death of moths - especially the cute fuzzy ones! (go figure) :-)

[Roserietta]

That's some furios doing makes me wonder what it'd be like to be a female moth.... owowowowowowowowowowowowow if u caught me and put me in that thing with a male id be screaming my head off, litterally.

[jcmegabyte]

Yea, from peoples' point of view it looks pretty un-romantic! From the female moth's point of view it's all she's got to live for - literally. She only has a few days to find a boyfriend, mate and lay her eggs before she dies. The adult moths can't eat (no mouths or digestive systems) so they live off of the fat they stored as caterpillars. When the finally "run out of gas" after a few days, it's "game over"!

[SILLYED333]

i never seen a moth emerging from the pupa.BUT todayi will see one!

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks for checking it out! :-)

[purrsuade]

how long does it take for the wing expansion?

[jcmegabyte]

Usually 15-30 minutes to expand them, then another hour or so for the fluid they pumped into the wings to dry and harden enough for the moth to fly. Its an interesting process. Thanks for watching :-)

[nero06415]

That's a lot of eggs

[jcmegabyte]

75 to 150 is typical - the bigger moths put out 300-600! :-)

[SugaHoneyXxX]

W O W im nort supposed 2 be wotchin disz....innapropriate XD

[sealsong]

Fantastic videos. You've managed to capture some spectacular moments. :) Are all of the species you film native to the USA?

[jcmegabyte]

Yes, all are native US species, and most are from southern California. There are a great number of species here but many are scarce or fly in places people normally don't look, so they're rarely seen. Thanks for watching and commenting :-)

[ThePrimary]

intriguing...to the MaX

[jcmegabyte]

Nature is pretty interesting stuff - Thanks for the view and comment :D

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks for the nice comment! I try to make my videos more instructional than observational so that others who want to rear these cool bugs can see how it's done. That also has the advantage of not putting the viewer to sleep quite as quickly as a long, drawn-out sequence! I'm learning a lot as I go, both in rearing Leps AND making videos! :D

[mothshroom]

i learned a lot.

your videos are interesting and to the point

not all "nature" vids are like that, some take their time and leave it to you to decide what exactly is going on

it's a matter of style/taste i guess.

i like how yours are done

[Kruizinby]

That was so fascinating to watch! See now I'm gonna be here all day watching your vid 2 catch up lol!!! Cheers mate!

[jcmegabyte]

I'm really impressed that intend to watch so many of my videos. Your the best! :D

[Kruizinby]

This stuff is great to watch. gives me a 'break' (only momentarily) from my usual weirdness lol!

[myjugsarehuge]

Amazing, love your videos

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks! :-)

[bmoisset]

That last female seems to have very small wings. Is that common?

[jcmegabyte]

You're right - some adults don't expand their wings fully or at all. The percentage of "defectoids" in any given brood varies a lot by species and health of the parent insects. In nature, few of them survive but most do in the lab, and are still good for mating and other behavioral research / documentation. :-)

[bmoisset]

Great video! You keep superating yourself.

[AlterEgoTrip]

Yeah the patterns the eggs are laid out in are rather beautiful; I was wondering how many eggs does the moth lay? It doesn't look like the huge amount they say in the books..

[jcmegabyte]

The number of eggs really depends on the species. Some families/species probably produce thousands. This family, Saturniidae, produces fewer but larger eggs than most. 50 to 300 is a typical Sat load. Hemileuca electra will lay 100-200 total, but in several clusters. The number per individual varies a lot depending on how well it did as a caterpillar. Big fat healthy larvae result in moths with lots of eggs. I 'spose that's typical in nature! :)

[AlterEgoTrip]

Thats something I didn't know!!! Thank you!!!

[milkriverfilm]

excellent

[stechan1092]

oh my gosh,this vid is amazin*eek* thannk you;D

[Vatsek]

Eggs are arranged in a honeycomb structure on a stick, isn't it amazing?

[jcmegabyte]

It definitely is. I also like watching the eggs change color as they dry.

[GeraldBoyClassical]

Yeah, that was cool how they turn white. Is that usual for moth eggs to come out grey and turn white, or just this species?

[jcmegabyte]

Many of the species of this family (Saturniidae) lay eggs which are dark and "wet" but quickly dry and change color. The colors in the video are a little misleading - they are a dark gray when first laid but change to a light blue-ish gray color (looks more like white in the video) after a minute or two. The color is usually cryptic, intended to match the natural substrate (twig, leaf, etc.)